Alternative Energy is a energy that can replace another energy source without it's undesirable side-effects. For example solar power to be used to power our houses instead of getting electricity from a power plant that burns fossil fuel. Instead of using gasoline which pollutes our earth in our cars, we can use hydrogen cars instead. Below this is a list of six alternative energy sources, their positives and negatives, and some videos that expand on some of the energy sources. Here is a video about Mr. and Mrs. Wolf's house which is run on solar power.
Type of Energy Source
Positives
Negative
Hydro
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it can make energy 24 hours a day.
waves energy can produce electricity more than the world needs if of what has been harnessed.
water energy contains two kinds of energy:kinetic energy and potential energy.
A hydroelectric power plant takes up a lot of space and this may cause animal habitats to go lost.
fish may not be able to swim to sea and aquatic life may decrease in the area of the hydroelectric power plant.
when we use the released hydrogen as a fuel, we get back only 30% to 40% of the energy that we put in the rest is wasted as heat.
Nuclear
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It does not produce and greenhouse gasses so it does not contribute to Global Warming. It costs the same amount as coal per kilowatt so it is cheap. It also produces very little by-product.
Even though the by-product of the nuclear process is very small, it is very dangerous. This nuclear waste is toxic and has a very long radioactive lifespan. It also is very expensive to build and maintain a nuclear power plant.
Solar
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*** solar is more predictable and with certain forms of energy storage may even dispatch able providing power during cloudy periods or during high demand hours after sunset.
photovoltaic cells covert sunlight into electricity
sunlight canbe used to boil water.
solar airplanes have real value and they will be in our future for spying on critical areas of conflict
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part of the problem with solar power is that is so inefficient to turn it in electricity only 15% for in expensive.
electricity from the solar conversion plant costs about 28 cents kilowatt- hour while it costs 10 cents from fossil fuels.
Hydrogen
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Hydrogen is 2.6 times better than gasoline and hydrogen fusion is 6 million times better than gasoline. It is also the most plentiful gas in the universe. Stars are made primarily of hydrogen.
Since hydrogen doesn't exist on earth as a gas, we must separate it from other elements. We can separate hydrogen atoms from water, biomass, or natural gas molecules. The two most common methods for producing hydrogen are steam reforming and electrolysis (water splitting). Electrolysis uses more energy than it produces right now.
Geothermal
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Plenty of it in the world because it comes from inside the earth. It also takes up very little space for a power plant compared to many other energy plants. It also has zero fuel cost because all the heat you get is from the earth.
Since the geothermal heat is inside the earth, it is hard to get in some places because you have to go deeper for it, so it is only good for some places like Alaska and Hawaii. It is also pretty expensive to build a geothermal power plant.
Wind
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cleanest to operate.
Chinese people used the wind energy through windmills to pump groundwater.
the pharaohs used the wind energy to move the boats.
it gives chances for people to work
it takes very big lands that can be used for another purposes.
if the windmills are near of the residential areas it makes a lot of noise also it kills a lot of birds which some of them had extinct.
Alternative Energy
Alternative Energy is a energy that can replace another energy source without it's undesirable side-effects. For example solar power to be used to power our houses instead of getting electricity from a power plant that burns fossil fuel. Instead of using gasoline which pollutes our earth in our cars, we can use hydrogen cars instead. Below this is a list of six alternative energy sources, their positives and negatives, and some videos that expand on some of the energy sources. Here is a video about Mr. and Mrs. Wolf's house which is run on solar power.
Type of Energy Source
Positives
Negative
Hydro
Nuclear
It does not produce and greenhouse gasses so it does not contribute to Global Warming. It costs the same amount as coal per kilowatt so it is cheap. It also produces very little by-product.Even though the by-product of the nuclear process is very small, it is very dangerous. This nuclear waste is toxic and has a very long radioactive lifespan. It also is very expensive to build and maintain a nuclear power plant.
Solar
**Hydrogen
Hydrogen is 2.6 times better than gasoline and hydrogen fusion is 6 million times better than gasoline. It is also the most plentiful gas in the universe. Stars are made primarily of hydrogen.
Since hydrogen doesn't exist on earth as a gas, we must separate it from other elements. We can separate hydrogen atoms from water, biomass, or natural gas molecules. The two most common methods for producing hydrogen are steam reforming and electrolysis (water splitting). Electrolysis uses more energy than it produces right now.
Geothermal
Plenty of it in the world because it comes from inside the earth. It also takes up very little space for a power plant compared to many other energy plants. It also has zero fuel cost because all the heat you get is from the earth.
Since the geothermal heat is inside the earth, it is hard to get in some places because you have to go deeper for it, so it is only good for some places like Alaska and Hawaii. It is also pretty expensive to build a geothermal power plant.
Wind
Nuclear Energy
How Nuclear Power Plants Work: